Demir
A masculine Turkish name meaning "iron" or "steel".
Name Census estimates that about 1,267 living Americans carry the first name Demir. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Demir today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Demir births was 2022 (137 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Demir. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Demir with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Demir is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 9 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 270,524 Americans
Peak year
2022
137 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,709
Tracked since 1991
Census
Demir in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 698 people with the first name Demir, which placed it at #16,239 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#16,239
National first-name rank
People counted
698
698 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Demir
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Demir is White at 54.9%. The next largest groups are Black (32.8%) and Hispanic (6.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Demir described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Demir at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.9% · 383
- Black or African American32.8% · 229
- Hispanic or Latino6.0% · 42
- Two or more races4.0% · 28
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 3
Popularity
Demir: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Demir from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 566 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Demir by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Demir during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Demirs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. Florida, California, New York recorded the most babies named Demir, while Tennessee, Maryland, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 48 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Demir
The name Demir originates from the Turkish language and has its roots in the Turkic cultures of Central Asia and Anatolia. It is derived from the Turkish word "demir," meaning iron or steel, reflecting the strength and resilience associated with these metals.
In ancient times, the Turkic nomads were known for their skilled metalworking, and iron played a significant role in their daily lives, from tools and weapons to decorative items. The name Demir may have been given to individuals who exhibited similar qualities of strength, durability, and perseverance.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Demir can be traced back to the Seljuk Empire, a medieval Turko-Persian Sunni Muslim empire that ruled over parts of Central Asia, the Middle East, and Anatolia between the 11th and 14th centuries. During this period, the name was likely used to honor individuals who displayed bravery and valor on the battlefield.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Demir. One such individual was Demir Hisar, a 14th-century Ottoman military commander and statesman who played a crucial role in the expansion of the Ottoman Empire into the Balkans. His leadership and strategic skills were instrumental in securing important victories for the Ottoman forces.
Another prominent figure was Demir Yeşil Zade, a 16th-century Ottoman statesman and historian who served as the Grand Vizier (chief minister) under Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. He is renowned for his contributions to Ottoman literature and his historical writings, which provide valuable insights into the political and cultural aspects of the Ottoman Empire during that era.
In the 19th century, Demir Hüseyin Pasha was a prominent Ottoman military leader and statesman who served as the Governor of Baghdad and played a significant role in the modernization efforts of the Ottoman Empire. His reforms and initiatives aimed to strengthen the empire's military and administrative systems.
Demir Kaplan, born in 1920 and died in 2008, was a renowned Turkish novelist and playwright. He is celebrated for his works that explored the social and cultural complexities of modern Turkish society, shedding light on the struggles and aspirations of ordinary people.
Demir Hotić, born in 1953, is a Bosnian chess grandmaster and author. He has achieved numerous successes in international chess competitions and has made significant contributions to the development of chess literature with his insightful books and analyses.
People
Demir + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Demir as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Demir: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Demir?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,267 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Demir going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 270,524 US residents.
Is Demir a common name?
We classify Demir as "Rare". It ranks above 91.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,277 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Demir most popular?
The single biggest year for Demir was 2022, when 137 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Demir is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Demir in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 698 people with the name Demir, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,239 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Demir in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Demir?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Demir leans strongly male. 686 people counted with this name were male (98.6%), compared with 10 female bearers (1.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Demir?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Demir is White at 54.9%. The next largest groups are Black (32.8%) and Hispanic (6.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Demir most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Demir in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.9% (383 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Demir in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Demir a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Demir in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Demir still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Demir in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Demir can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Demir?
You can see how many people have the name Demir on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.